Happy Birthday Medicare!: "pFast Facts on Medicare Tomorrow marks the 45th anniversary of the implementation of Medicare (July 1, 1966), following President Lyndon Johnson’s signing of the landmark health care program on July 30, 1965. Despite Medicare’s great run, House Republicans voted almost unanimously to end it in order to pay for tax more breaks for Big Oil, [...]/p"

CHART: Lower Taxes On The Rich Don’t Lead To Job Growth: "pCongressional Republicans — during both last year’s debate over the pending expiration of the Bush tax cuts and the current negotiations regarding raising the nation’s debt ceiling — refused to consider tax increases on even the very richest Americans. In fact, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) blew up debt ceiling negotiations last week due [...]/p"

CHART: The Debt Explosion In The Latest CBO Report Is Mainly Due To Lower Revenues: "pOur guest blogger is Michael Linden, Director of Tax and Budget Policy at the Center for American Progress Action Fund. We’re now just about one month away from the deadline for raising the debt ceiling and the negotiations don’t seem to be going all that well. Congressional Republicans still seem willing to risk all of [...]/p"

Bachmann Calls The Minimum Wage An ‘Expansion Of Government’ That Needs To Be Eliminated: "pRep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) formally kicked off her presidential campaign yesterday, painting herself as a Tea Party candidate who is ready to lead the country back to prosperity (even if her former chief of staff doesn’t think so). Today, in classic Tea Party form, Bachmann reiterated her long-held belief that a federally mandated minimum wage [...]/p"

CHART: States That Cut The Most Spending Have Lost The Most Jobs: "pOur guest blogger is Adam Hersh, an economist at the Center for American Progress Action Fund. There’s a new cult of economic thought sweeping the nation — or at least many Republican (and even some Democratic) political circles. Its adherents cling to the erroneous belief that sharp government spending cuts will revitalize economic growth and [...]/p"

Supreme Court Term In Review, Part II: Wall Street’s License To Lie: "pSecurities and Exchange Commission regulations make it illegal to “make any untrue statement of a material fact . . . in connection with the purchase or sale of any security.” And, according to a complaint filed by the New York Attorney General’s office, an investment company named Janus did exactly that. Essentially, the complaint maintains, [...]/p"

Bachmann’s Plan: To Deal With Debt, We Must ‘Wean Everybody’ Off Social Security, Medicare: "pThis past weekend, Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) addressed the right-wing Constitutional Coalition’s annual conference in St. Louis. She had dropped out of the Tea Party Convention occurring on the same day in Nashville to make the appearance. Speaking to a small group of conference attendees and ThinkProgress during lunch on Saturday, Bachmann outlined how the [...]/p"

SCOTUS Term In Review, Part I: You’re On Your Own: "pNo one has benefited more from George W. Bush’s opportunity to appoint two Supreme Court justices than major corporations. In the first five years of the Roberts Court, the Chamber of Commerce’s win rate spiked 15 percent, and one of the Chamber’s top Supreme Court litigators admitted that “[e]xcept for the solicitor general representing the [...]/p"

While Trying To Deny Fox News’ Bias, Chris Wallace Uses Conservative Term ‘Obamacare’: "pFox News has been under increasing scrutiny this week after Daily Show host Jon Stewart appeared on Fox News Sunday last weekend where he came prepared with research to tear into the network as an “ideological organization” that “gets marching orders” to promote conservative ideology. Today, Wallace devoted the end of his show to wagging [...]/p"

Four Ways Justice David Prosser Can Be Removed From Office: "pEarlier today, news broke that Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice David Prosser allegedly grabbed fellow Justice Ann Walsh Bradley around the neck during argument in her chambers last week. If these allegations prove true, Prosser is guilty of a very serious crime. Under Wisconsin law, “[w]hoever intentionally causes bodily harm or threatens to cause bodily harm [...]/p"

Supreme Court Strikes Down Ban On Health Data Mining: "pPharmaceutical companies target doctors for sales pitches through a process known as “detailing.” Data miners comb through prescription records to find out which doctors are treating which conditions with which drugs, and sell this data to drug companies so that they can pitch doctors on drugs they are likely to actually prescribe. If your doctor [...]/p"

Study: Lower Taxes Do Not Boost State Economies: "pA new study by researchers at the Northeast Regional Center for Rural Development at Penn State shows that “lower taxes are statistically insignificant in explaining state economic performance, and that targeted tax incentives and financial assistance — as currently practiced — are more likely to harm growth and income inequality.” “Although our results are primarily [...]/p"

Texas Republicans To Perry: Stop Lying About Preserving Our Rainy Day Fund: "pGov. Rick Perry (R-TX) — who, depending on the hour, is considering a run for the 2012 GOP presidential nomination — likes to point to the Texas economy as an indicator of his success. As we’ve noted several times, Perry’s tale is mostly fantasy, but that hasn’t stopped him from repeating it. At the moment, [...]/p"

Pennsylvania Teacher Starts 100-Mile-Run To Protest ‘Catastrophic’ Education Cuts: "pPennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett (R) stunned most people in his state when he announced his plan to slash more than $1 billion from education funding. If enacted, the radical proposal “would amount to the largest single-year cut ever in American public higher education,” in addition to gutting funds for K-12 education. Corbett is also calling [...]/p"

Evan Bayh Shills For Chamber’s Anti-Regulations Campaign With A Series of False Claims: "pOur guest blogger is Sidney Shapiro, University Chair in Law at Wake Forest University and Vice-President at the Center for Progressive Reform. The United States Chamber of Commerce, which spends millions of dollars donated by large corporations to lobby against government regulation, has kicked off a new anti-regulatory road show, starring former Sen. Evan Bayh [...]/p"DISGUSTING!

The Clarence Thomas Scandal: "pIn 1969, Justice Abe Fortas resigned in disgrace after the nation learned that he had accepted tens of thousands of dollars worth of gifts from corporate executives and other wealthy benefactors. Forty years later, Justice Clarence Thomas is caught in a strikingly similar scandal. Similarly to Fortas, Thomas has a wealthy benefactor named Harlan Crow [...]/p"

More Anti-Family GOP Tactics Against Clean Air: "pDominique Browning, lead blogger at Moms Clean Air Force, explains the latest effort by the GOP to undermine the health of children. This week, House Energy and Power Subcommittee Chairman Ed Whitfield, R-Ky, announced that House Republicans planned to release legislation in August that would slow the implementation of a proposed EPA rule to regulate [...]/p"

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Under New Law, Kansas May Become First State Where A Woman Cannot Get An Abortion: "pLast month, Republican lawmakers successfully passed an anti-choice bill requiring the state’s only three abortion clinics to be inspected twice a year, including one unannounced review. Under the new licensing standards, the Kansas Department of Health and Environment will create new standards for exits, lighting, bathrooms, and equipment and would have “the power to fine [...]/p"

Madison Protester Punched In The Face By Man With ‘Don’t Tread On Me’ Flag: "pA man participating in a non-violent, progressive sing-along yesterday in the Wisconsin state Capitol was punched in the face by a man wearing a “Don’t Tread on Me” flag and reportedly yelling “Walker for president,” referring to the state’s Republican governor, Scott Walker. The flag is closely associated with the Tea Party movement. The Wisconsin [...]/p"

Six Ways Jon Huntsman Would Hurt The American Economy: "pFormer Utah Gov. and Ambassador to China Jon Huntsman (R) announced his candidacy for president this morning, and in doing so, he became the latest candidate to declare that he is running to fix the American economy. Though Huntsman’s polling numbers are rather unimpressive, his sometimes progressive stances on various issues have earned him the [...]/p"

Clarence Thomas Decided Three Cases Where AEI Filed A Brief After AEI Gave Him A $15,000 Gift: "pIn 2001, a conservative, corporate-aligned think tank called the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) gave Justice Clarence Thomas the gift of a $15,000 bust of Abraham Lincoln. At the ceremony presenting Thomas with this very expensive gift, AEI president Christopher DeMuth explained that the bust was “cast in 1914 by the great neo-classical sculptor Adolph Alexander [...]/p"He must go! The only question left to ask is whether he should be arrested.

Justices Have Been Forced To Resign For Doing What Clarence Thomas Has Done: "pJustice Clarence Thomas is an ethics problem in a black robe. Just eight months after ThinkProgress broke the story of Thomas’ attendance at a Koch-sponsored political fundraiser, we learn that Thomas doesn’t just do unethical favors for wealthy right-wing donors — they also do expensive favors for him. Leading conservative donor Harlan Crow, whose company [...]/p"

House GOP Slashes Food Safety Funding Because ‘The Private Sector Self-Polices’: "pLast year, a bi-partisan majority in Congress approved a new food safety law, the first significant upgrade of the nation’s food safety system since 1938. The bill was so non-controversial that it was approved by unanimous consent in the Senate. But House Republicans have been threatening to defund the new law through the appropriations process. [...]/p"

House Agriculture Committee Slashes Nutrition For Poor Kids, Keeps Agribusiness Subsidies: "pThis is a telling moment in priorities: The Republican-led House voted to slash domestic and international food aid Thursday while rejecting cuts to farm subsidies. A spending bill to fund the nation’s food and farm programs would cut the Women, Infants and Children program, which offers food aid and educational support for low-income mothers and [...]/p"What kind of a nation have we become? Tea Party values, very sad stuff.

House Republican Appropriations Bill Guts Two Consumer Watchdogs: "pSince the passage of the Dodd-Frank financial reform law, Republicans have been threatening to use the appropriations process to undermine the new reforms, particularly the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. True to their word, the GOP’s 2012 financial services appropriations bill would deal the CFPB a couple of crucial blows if it were ever to become [...]/p"

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Tea Party Summer Camp To Teach Belief In God And Selfishness: "pA Tea Party group in Tampa will offer a summer camp to indoctrinate children into a strange mix of Ayn Rand and Jesus Christ: The organization, which falls under the tea party umbrella, hopes to introduce kids ages 8 to 12 to principles that include “America is good,” “I believe in God,” and “I work [...]/p"

Michele Bachmann: Let’s repeal clean air and clean water for our children: "pLast night at the GOP debate in New Hampshire, Michele Bachmann (R-MN) said of the Environmental Protection Agency: What we need to do is pass the mother of all repeal bills, but it’s the repeal bill that will get a job killing regulations. And I would begin with the EPA, because there is no other agency [...]/p"

GOP Cuts To Food Aid For Seniors And Food Banks Equals One Day Of Bush Tax Cuts For Millionaires: "pToday, the House is debating the Republican’s 2012 Agriculture Appropriations Bill, which, as we’ve been documenting, slashes funding for food assistance, preventing hundreds of thousands of people from accessing aid. In addition to lopping more than $800 million from the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), the GOP’s bill would cut [...]/p"

Jim McGovern: Tea Party Cuts To Hunger Programs Are ‘Morally Indefensible’: "pRep. Jim McGovern (D-MA), a long-time champion in the fight against hunger, is outraged by Republican cuts to food programs as the need for assistance has grown. Through no fault of their own, millions of American families are struggling to find jobs and put food on the table for their children, even as oil companies, [...]/p"

Saturday, June 11, 2011

Bachmann Calls For Huge Corporate Tax Cut Alongside Tax Increase For The Working Poor: "pSeveral of the 2012 GOP presidential hopefuls have laid out economic platforms that would include huge cuts in the corporate tax rate. Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (R) called for lowering the corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 25 percent, while former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R) went a step further, calling for a [...]/p"

Friday, June 10, 2011

John Birch Society Celebrates Koch Family For Their Role In Founding The Hate Group: "pBillionaire brothers David and Charles Koch have been dominant financiers for conservative front groups and nonprofits for nearly three decades. Their money has flowed to organizations dedicated to lobbying for corporate and upper income tax cuts, as well as to groups responsible for mobilizing Tea Party rallies against President Obama. But the Koch family’s association [...]/p"

Top 10 Things Texas Gov. Rick Perry Doesn’t Want You To Know About Him: "pWith widespread discontent on the right over their current presidential field, all eyes are trained on a likely new entrant: Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R). Perry, who has been elected governor three times and served for more than 10 years, enjoys bona fides from social conservatives and Tea Party-types alike. Glenn Beck even described Perry [...]/p"

Senate Republicans Hijack Non-Controversial Bill To Push Pro-Wall Street Agenda: "pRepublicans in both the House and the Senate have been using various avenues to undermine the Dodd-Frank financial reform law, which was signed last year to rein in the financial industry following the 2008 financial crisis. House Republicans have been attempting to use the budget process to render federal regulators incapable of implementing the law, [...]/p"

No Federal Judges Have Been Confirmed For The Last Four Weeks: "pThe Senate has confirmed no judges for the last four weeks, which means that judges are once again retiring faster than new ones are being confirmed. Thanks to Republican obstruction, the Senate confirmed fewer judicial nominees during Obama’s first two years in office than during the same point in any other presidency in American history. [...]/p"

McConnell Confirms Senate GOP Will Block Any Consumer Protection Bureau Nominee: "pA spokesman for Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) confirmed yesterday that Republicans intend to block anyone President Obama names to head the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. “It’s any nominee,” said McConnell spokesman Donald Stewart. Republicans want substantial changes to the bureau’s structure that would render it ineffective. If the bureau does not have [...]/p"

The complete guide to modern day climate change: "pAll the data you need to show that the world is warming According to the IPCC 4th Assessment Report (2007): Warming of the climate system is unequivocal, as is now evident from observations of increases in global average air and ocean temperatures, widespread melting of snow and ice, and rising global average sea level. At [...]/p"

Chris Christie Continues Koch Binge, Slashes Renewable Targets: "p“There is no doubt that renewable energy is the future here in New Jersey,” Chris Christie said when running for the governorship in 2008, comparing himself to Barack Obama. Now, Gov. Chris Christie (R-NJ) is on a Koch binge, gutting his state’s investments in clean energy to reward right-wing polluter interests like the Koch brothers. [...]/p"

How The Bush Tax Cuts Blew Up The Deficit And Debt: "pToday marks the 10th anniversary of the first of President George W. Bush’s two tax cuts, which have played a disproportionate role in blowing up the deficit and debt. As the Center for American Progress’ Michael Ettlinger and Michael Linden found, the federal debt would be at a sustainable level today — even with the [...]/p"

CHART: Without The Bush Tax Cuts, The Debt Would Be At Sustainable Levels: "pWhen President George W. Bush came into office, he was facing a balanced budget and the real prospect of the United States paying down its national debt. In fact, in 2001, Bush promised to pay off all of the federal debt within 10 years. Of course, that is not what happened. The debt and deficit [...]/p"

Pawlenty Economic Platform Includes Massive Tax Giveaways To The Rich And Corporations: "pRepublican 2012 presidential hopeful Tim Pawlenty is delivering an address in Chicago today where he will lay out his campaign’s official economic plan. Despite the fiscal woes that he left behind after his tenure as governor of Minnesota, Pawlenty has been banking on an economic message to help him in the GOP primary. Pawlenty’s economic [...]/p"

Religious Leaders: GOP’s ‘Ayn Rand’ Budget Targets Poor, Goes Against Religious Values: "pWhile religious conservatives and Republican political leaders gathered at the Faith and Freedom Conference in Washington this weekend, another group of religious leaders held a small gathering across the street to warn against the perils of the Republican Party’s fiscal priorities. Four members affiliated with the religious group Faith In Public Life held a brief [...]/p"

Anti-Abortion Groups Push To Outlaw Contraceptives By Redefining Personhood: "pA fringe anti-abortion group, Personhood USA, has been startlingly successful at pushing forward legislation across the country that would redefine life as beginning at the moment of fertilization, effectively outlawing contraceptives like birth control pills. Although the medical community has long been in agreement that fertilization does not mark the beginning of a pregnancy — [...]/p"

House GOP Cuts To Nutrition Assistance Equal To One Week Of Bush Tax Cuts For Millionaires: "pHouse Republicans, as part of their 2012 budget, have proposed dramatic cuts to food assistance programs, including cuts to the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) that would prevent hundreds of thousands of eligible women and their children from accessing the program. Late last month, the House Appropriations Committee approved more [...]/p"Priorities?

Ohio Senate Republicans Attempt To Gut State Minimum Wage Law: "pOhio is one of 17 states that require workers to be paid above the minimum wage mandated by federal law. But Ohio Senate Republicans are working to limit the number of people eligible to earn that wage, attaching an amendment to an omnibus budget bill that would circumvent the law and prevent an untold number [...]/p"

Rick Scott Can’t Explain Why He Took Obama Stimulus Money After Denouncing It: "pRick Scott, the nation’s least popular governor, can’t seem to escape bad press this week. First, he was roundly criticized for vetoing $615 million in budget funds — a move that will hurt Florida’s most vulnerable population. Then he was lampooned for signing a bill that mandates drug testing of all welfare recipients — and forces the state’s poorest [...]/p"